Hymn to the Immortal Wind, Playlist for March 30, 2009

Today's show was enjoyable, albeit sloppy at times. While I announced that the great Benny Dreadful of Boderlands Radio was heading to Mexico, I have since been informed that he will be staying. This is great news, since Boderlands is amazing and one of the many great things about CJAM. I also didnt get the chance to congradulate CJAM on attaining protected status, and securing the 99.1 signal. I want to extend many thanks to all those who voiced their support for CJAM, and enabling great programs like Boderlands, (and subpar ones like Juxtaposition Jukebox :P) to stay on the air. Thanks a million. I also want to thank my friend Brandon Webb for filling in for me last week and doing a splendid job, have a glass of Gin (perhaps courtesy of Cobalt).

The playlist itself was bordered around Mono's stunning new album Hymn to the Immortal Wind, my early front-runner for album of the year. The opening and closing tracks started and ended the program, with great new music from Lotus Plaza and Cobalt, and old gems from Laibach and Nitzer Ebb (and cheese from Modern Talking). I would highly recommend Deer Hunter and shoegaze fans check out Lotus Plaza. It is the side-project of Deerhunter's Lockett Pundt and it sounds a lot like Slowdive- Souvlaki (one of my top 5 favourite albums of all-time). Similarly, Cobalt- Gin is the realy frontrunner for metal album of the year, and I will go as far as saying that Cobalt is the future of heavy music.

The playlist:
1) Mono- Ashes in the Snow (Hymn to the Immortal Wind)
2) Lotus Plaza- Quicksand (The Floodlight Channels)
3) Great Lake Swimmers- Concrete Heart (Lost Channels)
4) Andrew Vincent- Rotten Pear (Rotten Pear)
5) Modern talking- Brother Louie (Ready for Romance)
6) Trans-X- 3D Dance (Living on Video)
7) Fuck Buttons- Bright Tomorrow (Street Horrrsing)
8) Laibach- Drzava (Laibach)
9) Nitzer Ebb- Murderous (That Total Age)
10) Cobalt- Gin (Gin)
11) Ben Somer- Lies in July (The Last One)
12) Rufus Wainwright- Everybody Knows [Leonard Cohen cover] (I'm Your Man)
13) Mono- Everlasting Light (Hymn to the Immortal Wind)

Here's the video for Modern Talking's Brother Louie. So hilariously cheesy in so many ways. For example, why is he playing a guitar (an unplugged one) when there is no guitar in the song.

Playlist for March 16, 2009

Lots of goodies from a wide range of musicians this week. In the heavy set, classic Carcass was played in conjunction with their reunion tour, which hit the Majestic Theater last night (I went, and they were a sight to see live), plus a request for Empty Hands, who will be playing at this years Smash the Glass festival on March 27th at the Chubby Pickle. New music from the great Constellation Records came in the form of Land of Kush's Against the Day, paying homage to the reclusive post-modernist writer Thomas Pynchon, author of the nearly impenetrable and grandiose novel Gravity's Rainbow. Sun Ra speaks for himself, as his album Space is the Place is one of the finest and weirdest jazz records ever recorded. Music from Cat Power, Neko Case (her new album is one of the best of this year), and Boris showcased more great musical contributions from female performers that I couldn't fit in one last week's show, and hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash featuring fellow legendary MC KRS-One spoke hip-hop, as they claim in the song-title.

The Playlist:
1) Carcass- Inpropogation (Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious)
2) Amorphis- Better Unborn (Elegy)
3) Wolves in the Throne Room- Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (Black Cascade)
4) Empty Hands- The Throne (Winter Demo)
5) Land of Kush- Against the Day (Against the Day)
6) Sun Ra- Rocket Number Nine (Space is the Place)
7) Faust- Apokalypse (Ravvivando)
8) Blah Blah 666- Home Sexuality (It's Only Live)
9) Jeff Presslaff Trio- Having Met Ms. Jones (Red Goddess)
10) Cat Power- The Moon (The Greatest)
11) Neko Case- Vengeance is Sleeping (Middle Cyclone)
12) Boris with Muchio Kurihara- Rainbow (Rainbow)
13) Cale Simpson- The Human Genome Project (S/T)
14) Grandmaster Flash feat KRS-One- We Speak Hip-Hop (The Bridge)

International Women's Day with Cristina and Nicole

Yesterday was International Women's Day. But today is as good a day as any other to celebrate the accomplishments women have made within various genres and forms of music. With the aid of my friends Cristina Naccarato and Nicole Markham of CJAM's Women's Radio Collective, we have selected some of our favourite cuts from many talented female musicians. My choices are in blue, Cristina's are in green, and Nicole's are in yellow.

1) Le Tigre- On Guard (Feminist Sweepstakes)
2) Perilelle- -7- (Fog Like This)
3) Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees- Best of All (S/T)
4) This Bike is a Pipe Bomb- Body Count (Front Seat Solidarity)
5) Rococo- We Just Free (Look Directly Into the Sun)
6) Diamanda Galas- Artemis (Defixionnes: Will & Testament)
7) Jarboe- I'm a Killer (Anhedoniac)
8) The World Inferno Friendship Society0 Friend to Friendless (Just the Best Party)
9) Brazilian Girls- Berlin (NYC)
10) Land of Talk- All My Friends (Applause Cheer, Boo Hiss)
11) Tagaq- Gentle (Auk/Blood)
12) I Am Spoonbender- I Went & Had My Knifes Sharpened (Shown Actual Size)
13) Lemuria- Bristles & Whiskers (The First Collection)
14) Cocteau Twins- Fotzepolitic (Heaven or Las Vegas)
15) Miss TK & The Revenge- Concentrate (XOXO)
16) Lioness- What you do will come back to you (S/T)
17) Thorr's Hammer- Troll (Dommedagsnatt)

Congratulations Phog Lounge: Playlist for March 2nd, 2009

I would like to extend my sincerest well wishes to Tom Lucier and Frank Incitti of the Phog Lounge for being awarded CBC Radio 3's Best Live Music Club in Canada. Going up against storied venues like The Commodore Ballroom and Call the Office and coming out on top is an astronomical accomplishment, and a testament to the hard work people at the phog have put in for Windsor's art scene.

As a congratulatory measure, the first half of the playlist was dedicated to artists (highlighted in red) who have played at the phog over the years and the great bands that will come to phog in the future.

I will also highlight Khanate and their posthumous final album Clean Hands Go Foul. Khanate, featuring the likes of James Plotkin, Alan Dubin (Old Lady Drivers) and Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Burning Witch) was one of the most daring and experimental heavy bands to come out in the 2000s, and they go out fittingly on their final cd.

1) What Seas What Shores- Old Reliable (Threnodies)
2) Theory of Everything- Infinite Improbability (S/T)
3) Ron Leary- All You Do (Lapse)
4) You Say Party We Say Die- Teenage Hit Wonder (Remik's Cube)
5) Tokyo Police Club- Your English is Good (Elephant Shell)
6) Final Fantasy- The Chronicles of Sarnia (Has a Good Home)
7) Citywide Vaccum- Sweet Kraut (Pact)
8) Can- Future Days (Future Days)
9) Camera Obscura- Let's Go Bowling (Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi)
10) Zombi- Spirit Warrior (Spirit Animal)
11) Leonard Cohen- Avalance (Songs of Love and Hate)
12) Khanate- Wings From Spine (Clean Hands Go Foul)
13) Absu- Night Fire Cannonization (S/T)